The nation’s machine tool exports rose 4.4 percent annually in the period from January through last month, a surge driven by growing demand for such exports in Europe, China and the US, the latest industrial data showed.
Taiwan’s total machine tool exports climbed to US$2.14 billion over the seven-month period from US$2.05 billion a year ago, according to data compiled by the Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders’ Association.
The group maintained its forecast that local machine tool exports this year would rise by between 10 and 20 percent compared with the previous year, association secretary-general Carl Huang (黃建中) said via telephone yesterday.
“Machine tool exports are set to post a larger annual increase in the second half of the year than in the first, given that market sentiment is still strengthening,” he added.
Machine tool exports to 15 countries in Europe, which accounted for about 20 percent of Taiwan’s total machine tool exports, rose 20.7 percent in the first seven months of the year, Huang said.
Huang said the political tension resulting from the Ukraine crisis has affected market sentiment in the region, posing uncertainties for machine tool exports growth in the area this year since many buyers continue to adopt a wait-and-see stance as the situation unfolds.
Shipments to China, which accounted for 34.9 percent of Taiwan’s total machine tool exports between January and last month, increased 4.5 percent to US$746.41 million, up from US$714.17 million the previous year, according to the data.
Huang said that although the Chinese government is implementing a stimulus plan to boost its economy, the pace of recovery is slower than the association expected.
Exports to the US, which accounted for 11.1 percent of total Taiwanese machine tool exports over the past seven months, saw a 5.2 percent rise to US$236.66 million from US$224.95 million the previous year.
Although the US is the most volatile of export destinations for Taiwan-made machine tools in terms of monthly growth, the association is optimistic that shipments to the US will increase annually for the whole of the year due to the economic recovery, Huang said.
Political unrest in Thailand, which accounted for 4.9 percent of Taiwan’s total machine tool exports in the first seven months, saw shipments to the Southeast Asian country decline the most, dropping 24.6 percent to US$105.23 million from US$139.57 million in January through July last year, Huang said.
Last month, total machine tool exports plunged 7.2 percent to US$326.76 million from US$352.15 million a month ago because most European countries have summer holidays in July and August, Huang said, adding that total exports are likely to remain low this month.
Exports last month were 1.6 percent higher than the US$321.71 million seen in that month the previous year, the data showed.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”